Of The Essence
by PersephoneWhisperwing
Summary: The Doctor and his new companion are off on their usual adventures when things get away from them. The Doctor finds himself with five companions, and a Universe to save.


This story is a group effort between co-workers who have very little to do on Monday mornings. If you enjoy it, let us know. If you hate it, you can let us know, but we'll probably laugh at you.

Also, we don't own Doctor Who. And read with a grain of salt perhaps.

Prologue

Space was blackness, not unlike the heart and mind of the Master. Long had his only obsession been to destroy the Doctor. It had consumed his every waking moment, it had haunted his dreams, and it had become his only vocation. But now... now things were finally coming to fruition. Sitting here on the Dalek mothership, he could feel the wind change. If there was wind in space.

"We finally have the technology to destroy the Doctor," he mused to his Dalek companion, who hovered by his side as they strolled the dank hallways. "We have a secret weapon..."

"He shall be..." the Dalek droned, "EXTERMINATED!"

The two broke into a maniacal laugh, or as much laughter as a Dalek could muster, being robots and all. The Master would break the Doctor, finally, and when he was done, he would do the same to the Daleks.

Chapter 1: Troubles and Bubbles

The moons of Sha'nayu looked like pure orbs of silver in the distance as the TARDIS disappeared from the planet's icy tundras. Kitty stared vaguely out the window, her eyes tired from a long day's worth of space trekking. How her life had changed since those hot days in 1932's Colorado! She sighed and pulled herself away from the window. The Doctor was standing hunched over the control panel, his face weighed down with thought, and his hair brushing against his furrowed brow. There were many times Kitty wished she knew what he was thinking- oh, the things that must be going on inside that conflicted mind! But she had learned long ago these were things she was never to know. Kitty was not to become attached to the Doctor... she had learned.

"Where are we off to now, Doctor?" she unintentionally purred, but she then cleared her voice and asked again in a more suitable voice: "Doctor?"

"We're going to the 51st century," he said after some amount of thought.

"And what's in the 51st century?" she asked, leaning against the control panel, facing him. He was still enthralled with whatever it was he was looking at.

"Fantastic pancakes, for one," he muttered, "And old friends." Looking at her, he smiled fondly. "But mostly pancakes."

"Intergalactic pancakes?" Kitty joked.

"Yes and no," he took the bait, "They have intergalactic pancakes, but the delicacy is to enjoy them while they're still alive."

"Still... alive...?" Kitty questioned, but the Doctor was already back in his own little world, studying schematics once more. She wouldn't get an answer from him, so she went back to staring out the window. Space was so different from Colorado. Blacker, bleaker, bigger... The only similarity was that they were both full of people trying to kill her.

Months ago, although time held no meaning for her anymore, she had been on an archaeological dig in Colorado Springs, excavating what she had thought to be a ancient Indian burial ground. Things had been fine and dandy until she uncovered a body that wasn't exactly ancient. In fact, it couldn't have been more than ten years old. This garnered unwanted attention from the mob, who were the apparent owners of said body. Needless to say, when it came between sticking around and getting systematically murdered or going of into the far reaches of space and time with a handsome yet brooding gentleman, she chose the latter.

She often wondered what would have happened if had she stayed- she had a nice life cut out for herself. A house, a boyfriend, a family. Now, all of those things were lost to her, for she knew she could never go back. Her life was with the Doctor.

"And here we are," she heard the Doctor say. Kitty snapped out of her reverie, an expression of surprise on her alabaster features.

"Already?" she asked, "I didn't even feel the jump..."

"Lost in your thoughts again?" he muttered knowingly. Kitty was always daydreaming, though about what, the Doctor was unsure. She was about to reply when she looked out the window and saw before her a vast wasteland of blackness. This, she was used to, but instead of simple emptiness, there were large gray ships as far as the eye could see. They were placed in a triangular formation, sitting calmly like ducks on a pond.

"What's this?" she inquired, suddenly feeling as though all she did was ask questions.

"This is the Yaren Naval Fleet," he responded casually, as if all they did was encounter military fleets, "I know their captain... commands the flag ship... the _Legacy_, there."

He pointed to the grandest of the ships, a blue-grey, smooth vehicle with the air of authority.

"Let's open transmission, shall we?" he said agreeably, and he prodded a button with a long finger. There was a whirring sound as the TARDIS tried to connect with the _Legacy_, and in a moment, in the screen was a perfectly round, pink bubble.

"...Hello?" the Doctor greeted, unsure as to what the bubble meant.

"HIYA!" a chipper voice came forth from the speakers at such a frequency Kitty had to plug her ears.

"Well, that's not the Captain," the Doctor said certainly, "Her demeanor isn't nearly as, er, pleasant."

"That's pleasant?" Kitty muttered.

"I can haz name pls?" the bubble shrieked, "I iz watchin teh TV!"

"Um..." the Doctor stammered, "I was looking for Captain Riley...?

"I haz a Cap'n Riely!" the bubble replied happilly, clearly beyond excited to be of use, "But first Jimmy and I be watch Romorean Idolz! K thx by!"

Just as the bubble was about to end transmission, a hand came out of nowhere and burst the bubble into a million tiny pieces, each one bouncing around the screen, shrieking obscenities and grievances as they floated out of view. As the picture focused, it revealed the hand was indeed attached to a human, or at least a humanoid.

She was tall and light skinned with long, red hair cascading over her shoulders. Her soft cheekbones and hollow eyes played against each other, and her facial expression showed clear annoyance.

"The next one's for you," she directed at the screen, and the Doctor's face explained that he probably deserved to be hit by this fiery female. "I thought I made it clear I wanted you to stay away from my fleet."

"Yes, about that," the Doctor explained, but Kitty cleared her throat. She looked a bit peeved that this 'Captain' turned out to be a woman.

"Captain Riley, this is Kitty Myra, Kitty, this is Captain Riley," he clarified. Neither woman looked particularly thrilled, nor did they acknowledge the other's existence beyond grunting.

The captain was the first to break the silence as she turned away from the screen and yelled, "For god's sake Chillie, will you please stop dancing!" There was a loud popping noise and then silence as the Captain turned back to the screen, a scowl on her otherwise lovely face.

"What is it Doctor? What jeopardy has the universe fall into this time, and why on Zycron's seven moons have you come back here? I expect you need something because after last time you should know that I have absolutely no desire to see you ever again."

The Doctor grinned sheepishly and looked from Kitty to his old companion, "Yeah, well... You're right. I do need a favor. Would you mind patching us in? I promise we'll only stay long enough for pancakes if you really and truly can't be spared."

Captain Riley frowned, looked from the Doctor the Kitty, and let out a small sigh. "Fine. Give me a minute to work out the security clearance and I'll pull you through. I assume the TARDIS has the same biomark?"

Without waiting for a reply, the screen flickered and went dark and the Doctor and Kitty were alone again. The young archaeologist stared at the screen. Clearly this _Riley_ woman had a history with the Doctor, something that she was still working to build. An unexpected wave of jealousy washed over her and settled in the pit of her stomach. She shouldn't be jealous, she had no reason, but there was just something about him that was almost magnetic. She couldn't help herself. She'd be civil, because apparently they need this woman's help. And there was certainly no reason for her to be so upset over something so trivial.

A thought dawned to Kitty and she turned to the doctor with a quizzical look. "Doctor... You said we needed her help with something. As far as I can recall we don't have any pressing matters. What is this all about?" She spent much of her time these days wondering just what was going on, and she was beginning to get used to it.

"I just remembered a promise I made to a friend quite a few years ago. Lifetimes in fact. Seeing as I've got a time machine here, the fact that I forgot really isn't a problem at all. Though I imagine there will be some amount of surprise upon our arrival." Kitty hadn't yet discovered the Doctor's ability to change his face, so these vague comments eluded her slightly.

"Anyways, this promise involves naval matters, and while I may be a master of time and space, my nautical skills are less than stellar. The Captain is the only person I'd trust with your life, never mind mine." He gave Kitty a smile and turned back tot the control panel and fiddled with a knob, calibrating some instrument and missed the smile and blush that crept across his young companion's face.

Kitty's mind wandered as she thought over the Doctor's words, but she was soon jerked back to reality as the door of the TARDIS swung open. "I'm glad you never made me give back my key Doctor. I don't like the idea of you having too much of an upper hand here. This is my ship after all."

The Captain was even more imposing in person. The transmission screen failed to show her height, and to the peteit Kitty, she was an imposing figure. She pulled herself up to her full height, straightened her short brown bob and tried to stare impassively at the redhead. Tried being the operative word.

"Come on you two. Down to the galley. We've got a fresh shipment of pancakes in. You can talk and eat and then get the hell off my ship."

The Time Lord and Kitty walked along behind her, Kitty gasping in wonder at the gleaming halls. She'd been on several spaceships by this point, but none so grand as this. The doors opened as the Captain approached them and closed swiftly as the Doctor passed through. With a smirk, he leaned forward and whispered in Kitty's ear, "Those aren't sensors like in the other ships. Captain Riley is a class four telekinetic. So keep up the pace or I'm going to end up with my coat tails caught in a sliding door. That happened once in this ship and it took me the better part of an afternoon to coax that door open."

Kitty giggled softly, but did pick up the pace slightly.

Moments later the three were seated around a small table, a plate of pancakes between them. Kitty was slightly disturbed by the fact that they were vibrating slightly and seemed to be breathing. But they were delicious…

"So you want me to help you save a fleet of earthling pirates in the year 1843? Just drop the largest naval fleet in the galaxy and run off with you and your cat?"

The Captain was scowling again, it seemed that that was a natural state for her features, and drumming her fingernails softly against the table's surface. The pink bubble was back and was floating in the corner while periodically munching pancakes.

The Doctor grinned at Captain Riley and slipped on his glasses. He knew she'd always liked it when he wore his glasses. "Well… When I say drop, I mean take a slight break from. Well… when I say take a slight break from I suppose I really mean take an indefinite leave from. So yeah, I guess you could say drop. But honestly, when was the last time you were on the open seas. It could be fun! And you can get to know Kitty here! Swap stories about me. Oh! She can tell you about our last trip. Full of Yeti and snow shoeing, and even an arctic marmeling. Sort of like a really really cold pineapple."

Kitty really didn't have any desire to share anything with this woman, but grinned half heartedly before sticking another squirming pancake in her mouth. "I'm sure it'll be great fun." Though, probably not nearly as much fun as her last root canal.

"See! Fast friends already, you lot! Come on Riley. Can you really pass all this up again?" Kitty wasn't sure she could have denied him with that look on his face, but apparently Captain Riley had built up some sort of immunity to him, as her gaze remained as cold as ever.

"Of course I can. After that last trip. You remember? The one where I ended up stranded on a prison ship nearly twelve galaxies away from here? And I had to wait a week before you managed to get a ship out there. And that note! I have never read anything so soulless and patronizing in my life! 'Hope you make it back, fleet is all right. Perhaps I'll see you later?!'"

Her face was beginning to turn red at this point.

"There is nothing you could possibly say that would get me to get back in the TARDIS and fly off to the ends of the universe with you!"

To punctuate her fury, she stood up sharply and planted her hands firmly on the table. As a pancake quivered and flopped onto the floor the Doctor gave a sly grin. Kitty stared on; slightly confused and worried to hear that the Doctor had left the Captain stranded and alone and prayed that the same fate would not befall her.

The thin man stood slowly and leaned in towards the Captain. She froze as he whispered something in her ear. After a moment he pulled away and said, "Now I'm sure that isn't something that the rest of your crew needs to know about is it? I certainly don't want to tell them, but well, you know me. Just blah blah blah. I just can keep the thing shut. Runs on a motor, my mouth. You remember. Don't you? So keep that in mi-"

"FINE!"

Kitty jumped and Chillie Stevens, the pink bubble, popped in surprise. The tiny pieces bounced all around the room and Captain Riley stood up straight, trying to compose herself. "I'll arrange things with HQ, and Chillie and I will meet you in the TARDIS at 0400 hours. Grab some sleep while you can.

The captain slammed the door behind her, without the use of her hands of course, and the tiny pink bubbles slipped under the door after her.

The Doctor turned to Kitty with a grin on his face about the size of Charlin-9's largest moon.

"Anchors away!"


End file.
